What's Wrong With Hearts?
by Angevon
Summary: Souji is caught drawing hearts in his notebook. The girls are confused and Yosuke is embarrassed. [SoujiXYosuke]


[AN: I had fun writing this. It's just some harmless fluff.

Spoilers for Kanji S. link and Naoto.

Thanks to Soma for coming up with the ending for me!]

* * *

"Souji-kun, can I borrow your notes for Yukiko? I mean, I'd let her use mine, but, haha, you know..." Chie scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

Souji passed his notebook to her. "Tell her that I hope she gets better soon."

Chie grinned at him, flashing her carnivore teeth. "Will do! I'm gonna head over to her place right now!"

* * *

"Will you hand this back to Souji-kun, Chie?" Yukiko asked a few days later, when she had recovered enough from her cold to return to school. She held out the notebook, but Chie wasn't quite paying attention and it slipped out of her hand and into the aisle between their desks.

"Ah, sorry!" Chie exclaimed. With a sigh she reached down and picked the notebook up, idly glancing at the page it had opened up to. "Oh, hey! Gosh, Yukiko, I didn't know you had a crush on Souji-kun."

"Wait, what?" said Yosuke, overhearing them and wanting the scoop.

"I don't," Yukiko replied with a puzzled frown.

"Huh? Then who drew all these hearts all over Souji-kun's math notes?" Chie said, holding open the notebook and pointing to a particularly large one.

"Let me see that!" Yosuke grabbed the notebook right out of her hands. His face blanched as he looked through it. "Haha, wow... That's a lot of hearts..."

"What's up?" Rise asked, confidently walking into the classroom as if she belonged there—it wasn't unusual for her to stop by after school if she was bored and wanted to commandeer Souji's attention for the afternoon. She zeroed in on the congregation around Chie's desk. "Huh? Someone drew hearts in Senpai's notebook?"

"Those were there when you gave the notebook to me, Chie," Yukiko said. "I didn't draw them."

"Whaaaa!" Rise squealed. "Look, they're drawn with the same pen that Senpai uses. Senpai... Did you draw these yourself!?"

"Souji-kun...?" Chie said. As one, their eyes turned to their silver-haired team leader, who was engrossed in copying notes from the board into a different notebook and apparently hadn't heard the entire conversation going on around him.

"Hearts... Could it be?" Rise asked. "Senpai's... in love?"

"Haha." Yosuke laughed nervously. "He was probably thinking of Nanako-chan."

"Hmm?" said Souji, briefly looking up from his writing. "Oh. Yeah, I drew those."

The girls collectively gasped, except Yukiko who was still a bit confused over what was going on.

"But who were you thinking of when you drew them?" Rise demanded with an excited squeal. She almost ripped the notebook in her hurry to tear it away from Yosuke's hands. She immediately began to scour it for any signs of a name or initials next to any of the hearts.

There weren't any.

"Wow," said Chie. "Souji-kun... I noticed you've been spacing out in class lately, but I didn't think it was because you have a crush on someone."

"Who?" Yukiko asked.

"Probably someone from Okina," Chie mused. "If it was a Yasogami student, well, everyone would know."

"I just wanted to draw some hearts. Is that a problem?" said Souji.

At his words, Rise immediately dropped the notebook and grabbed Souji's collar and pulled him forward until their foreheads were almost touching. "Whyyyyyy hearts?" she hissed.

"Yeah, really, Souji-kun," Chie chimed in. "That is a bit weird, even for you. I mean, Valentine's Day is over a month away, so that's no excuse. Umm, Rise, maybe you should put him down, I don't know if he can breathe..."

"I like hearts," Souji said after he had settled back into his seat and readjusted his collar. "What's wrong with drawing some hearts?"

"But, but this isn't just 'some' hearts, Senpai! They're on every page!" Rise cried. "It obviously means something! If you have a girlfriend, I'll..."

"I didn't think about that," said Chie. "That it could be an _actual_ girlfriend. Huh... I'm still kind of stunned. You look pretty stunned too, Yosuke. I guess Souji-kun didn't tell you who the lucky girl is?"

"Huh? Oh... Yeah, partner! You keeping secrets from me?" Yosuke laughed, but it came out a little strangled.

"Maybe we should get Naoto-kun in on this mystery!" Chie suggested.

"Nah... I don't think she'd be interested in something like this," Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You'd be surprised," Yukiko murmured.

When it became obvious that Souji wasn't going to give up more information on why he'd drawn the hearts, the three girls united by leaving the school together—without Souji. Yosuke watched them go with his arms crossed. _Probably going to get Rise some comfort food,_ Yosuke thought. He knew it was a cruel thought, but he didn't feel particularly bad about thinking it.

Yosuke sighed and watched Souji finish copying the notes from the board. "Man, you haven't got it all down yet?" he asked. "The last bell rang a half an hour ago, at least."

"I'm just putting on a finishing touch..." Souji said without looking up.

"Well, will you hurry it up? This classroom's the last place I wanna hang out at. We've already been here all day, you know?"

A quick glance around the room told him that all the other students had left for the day, which was a bit strange. Usually there were a couple of girls at least who stayed a while longer to chat by the shelves at the back of the room, but maybe Rise and Chie's shouts had made them go elsewhere. Yosuke couldn't blame them.

"You can't rush art," Souji insisted.

"...What? We don't even have an art class... No, don't tell me..." Yosuke peered at Souji's notes, and then groaned. "More hearts?"

"My Japanese Literature notebook needs to be decorated, too," Souji explained, as if it made perfect sense. It probably did, to him... "_Heart_-ily decorated... haha."

Yosuke stared at him. Had Souji been spending too much time with Teddie? Because _that_ had sounded very unlike him. He decided to ignore it. "Hearts? Come on, partner... That's just embarrassing."

"If the teacher caught me drawing what was really on my mind, I'd have detention," Souji said.

Yosuke chuckled nervously. "But really, man, hearts?"

"What's wrong with hearts?" Souji finally stopped thickening the outline of his latest heart to look up at him with a hurt expression, as if he'd expected Yosuke to understand, even if the girls hadn't.

"I dunno... It's just..."

"You don't like them?"

Ah, shit... Yosuke recognized that tone of voice. It meant he'd already put one foot in it... and there was no going back. "It's a bit... girly. You're acting like a schoolgirl. I mean, not that I don't like that you're thinking of... of me... umm..."

"Girly." Souji's voice held no emotion.

"It's, ah, not really a bad thing, but just..." Yosuke waved his hands vaguely. "I dunno, maybe you could tone it down a bit, partner? It seemed a bit overboard? How can you even study your notes with all that, uh, distraction...?"

"It's not like I colored them pink and red. They're just in black pen. But... you really don't like them? If you think that's 'girly,' I guess I shouldn't even show you... Umm..."

Yosuke blinked and uncrossed his arms. "Wait... Show me what?"

Souji avoided his eyes by staring fixedly at the empty desk to his left. "You won't like it. It's girly."

"Hey, now, don't be like that," Yosuke protested. "You can't tell me you wanted to show me something and then just _not_."

"You'll laugh."

"I... Well, I can't promise I won't, but I'd still like to see it, whatever it is."

Souji sighed and took something out of his pocket and gingerly handed it out to Yosuke while still avoiding his eyes. Yosuke took it into his hands and stared down at it.

In his palm was a knitted brown rabbit with floppy ears. It wore a Yasogami High uniform, complete with tiny buttons that bore the school's emblem. It sported a miniature set of orange and black headphones. It had brown button eyes, and a fluffy cotton tail was sticking out of the seat of its pants.

It was... very elaborate.

Yosuke carefully set it down on Souji's desk. "Dude, I don't know what to say..."

"His name is Hop-suke," Souji said, watching him from the corner of his eyes.

Yosuke snickered. "Hop-suke Bunny-mura?"

"Sure." Souji smiled shyly at him.

"It's... actually pretty awesome, partner," said Yosuke. "I've gotta say. I can't believe you asked Kanji to make this. He even got the coloration of my headphones just right."

Souji laughed, a strange tittering sound that was so rare to hear.

Yosuke gave him a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"

"Kanji didn't make that. I did."


End file.
